Sunday, 12/08/2024
Articles
Right conduct in reciting Buddha’s name
Update: 17/05/2007
As a matter of fact, life and death originate from our daily false thoughts, karmas, afflictions, love-hatred feelings, greed and angers. In case we cannot control them, that the roots of birth and death still exist is inevitable. Now if those who want to practice meditation to attain to Buddha’s enlightenment immediately and to release themselves from the bonds of births and deaths, please wonder whether a recitation can cut off afflictions as easily as a skein. If we can’t wipe all afflictions out, in spite of attaining sudden enlightenment, we will be reborn in bad realm for sure, whichwe shouldn’t disregard. The Patriarchs attained sudden enlightenment thanks to an amount ofgradually accumulated practice over many lives (gradual cultivation). Therefore, “sudden enlightenment†is thought to be easy but actually extremely difficult to reach. Without twenty or thirty years of practicing, how can we attain sudden enlightenment while wallowing in afflictions. It’s essential to know how your own capacity is. Reality shows that some people don’t realize the miracle of Dharma door of Buddha recitation, even considering it unprofitable. So how do we practice step by step correctly? As we know, birth has always gone with death since our existence and our mind tends to be filled with false thoughts during recitation, which creates bad karmas - root of birth and death. We are notsingle-minded in the process of recitation, afflictions no doubt pop into our mind. Now if we can change false-thought mind into Buddha recitation mind, afflictions will be removedthereby escaping from birth and death.
In fact,some suppose that single-minded Buddha recitation is more beneficial than meditation. Actually, it depends on one’s own causal condition.. Meditation requires that evil thoughts be completely dispelled from our minds while Buddha’s name recitation is in favor of replacement: getting rid ofcontamination by purity in mind,which is easier for most of practitioners, especially for those with limited capacities to practice.
It is unnecessaryto behold the Nature in practicing Buddha recitation.Those who follow this dharma door find right conduct at Buddha recitation and supporting conditions to be able to enter the Pure Land at sowing goods seeds in the field of blessedness such as alms giving, food supply to monks, and other good deeds . Moreover, it is suggested that Buddhists vowing to be reborn in the Pure Land should cut the root of birth and death first, which is the most effective way.Buddha’s teaching reveals that the root of birth and death and sufferings is greed and indulgence in earthly desires. Also, either anger or teachings from deviant monks should be washed out of our mind totally. We should absolutely believe only in the Drama door of Buddha Recitation in which Buddha’s name is in our mind all the time.Buddha is an awakened one.If reciting Buddha’s name continuously, we will attain bright wakefulness.Otherwise, we will not be enlightened. If we recite even in the dream, we can attain eternal wakefulness – a state withoutdelusion.And if we manage to maintain an awaking mind all the time, we could also not be deluded at death's door. That the mind is not deluded at that time is the result of practicing. Because of busy work, some of uscan’t sometimes practice meditation. In that case, Buddha recitation is the best way. We can recite Buddha’s name wherever and whenever we would like. No Dharma is easier and better than Buddha recitation.
Meditation requires detachment from delusions while Buddha recitation focuses on single-mindedness. Because human beings have been submerged in delusions for long time, this kind of practice is considered to be “habit cures habit†- bad habits are cured by developing good habits instead. Itis difficult to be awakened by profound research in Buddhist studies whereas the practice of the purelands.isa relatively easy way to enlightenment. So those who would like to settle the birth and death affair thoroughly, just follow the dharma door of Buddha recitation,youwill be able to escape from the cycle of births and deaths right in the present life.
Obviously, dharma doors of Buddha recitation and meditation are named differently but their goals are the same – right mindfulness . Prior to Buddha recitation, we should try to completely get rid of all deluded thoughtsand disturbing sundry thoughts of affliction, greed, anger and ignorance so that we canrecite "Amitabha Buddha†clearly without discontinuity. More importantly, By cultivatingsteadily like that , in which our minds are not swayed by external circumstances or in other words we can succeed in single-mindedness at anytime and anywhere until death -the time for entering the Pure Land.
Nowadays, some people rush into Buddha recitation just in the hope of freeing themselves from the cycle of birth and death right away in one lifetime, which is supposed to be impossible. I’m also afraid that they even hardly regain their human forms once they pass away. It is advisable that we cling to the Buddha’s name recitation to dispel false thoughts. We should recite Buddha’s name wherever and whenever if possible lest false thoughts veil our minds. Such practices for a long time certainly naturally lead to achievement without praying for it.
Buddha’s name recitation also consists of a variety of levels. Lay Buddhists don’t need to follow the timetable of monks and nuns in pagodas.Reciting Buddha’s name is their main task. Every early morning, we should kowtow to Buddha, chant the Amitabha sutra and use prayer beads to count three thousand, five thousand or ten thousand times of reciting Buddha’s name and then dedicate merits to all sentient beings and vow to be reborn in the Realm of Ultimate Bliss.
Evening course is the same and this is a fixed timetable that we should adhere to without missing any session. This Dharma can be applied generally for everyone. For those who are in the face of near death, practicing should be more urgent. Every day except two courses above, during day and night, we only have one sentence of “Amitabha Buddha†in mind, recite it perpetually, keep the mind away from delusion, should not think any worldly matters and consider reciting Buddha’s name as the salvage of our lives
In case you are subject to fluctuations of the mind because of disadvantages, afflictions, sadness , just think of Buddha’sname and recite it and as a result those distressing feelings vanish instantly. Because birth and death sufferings come from afflictions, now if we resort to Buddha recitation to eliminate afflictions, the matter birth and death will be tackled at its roots thanks to the blessing of the Buddhas. If your reciting Buddha’s name can remove afflictions, it can liberate you from birth and death. If someone’s reciting Buddha’s name reaches the level in which they can control afflictions, they can control their minds in dreams. If they can control themselves in dream, they can also control themselves when suffering sickness and pain, so clearly they can know where they should go after death . This method is not difficult to practice.Just persist in sincerely reciting for freeing ourselves from birth and death without thinking anything else for a long time, which causes you to have such a good habitual deed, naturally attain great peace to which the pleasure of five desires cannotbe compared.
In conclusion, there is no other simpler Dharma door than this shortcut of Buddha recitation.
Translated into English by Nguyen Thi Thuy Oanh
Master Han Shang (Dream Roaming episode)